The lawyer representing Barry Morphew lashed out at those rushing to “blindly re-accuse” the Colorado landscaper in his wife Suzanne’s killing, which she suggested could be tied to other unexplained deaths and disappearances.
Suzanne Morphew’s remains were found last week, more than three years after the 49-year-old failed to return from a bike ride on Mother’s Day 2020.
“The first and most important focus should be that the Morphew’s [sic] just learned that they lost their beautiful mother and wife after she disappeared 3 1/2 years ago,” Iris Eytan, founder of the Eytan Law Firm, wrote in a lengthy statement to KKTV Thursday.
“What appears to be the overriding focus is a finger pointing right back where it started 3 1/2 years ago: a movement to blindly re-accuse Barry for Suzanne’s death,” she added.
Eytan was referring to the fact that Barry Morphew, 55, was initially charged with his wife’s then-presumed death, before the case was dropped in April 2022 without prejudice, leaving the door open for charges to be refiled against him in the future.
In her scorching denunciation of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors involved in the case, Eytan noted that the missing mom of two’s body was found in a shallow grave in the middle of a desert field of sagebrush in Moffat, Saguache County — 45 miles south of the Morphew family’s home.
“At no time did the FBI, CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation), Chaffee County Sheriff Office or DA’s Office pinpoint or even generally claim that Barry was in any area south of his home, near Moffat or anywhere near Saguache County at any relevant time frame,” she declared.
“It would be ludicrous for anyone to now try to fit the now known facts to prior false assumptions and accusations.”
She noted that her client was “the most scrutinized, dissected, surveilled individual” at the time of his wife’s high-profile disappearance and in the years since.
Eytan also claimed that Saguache County officials only “stumbled” upon Suzanne Morphew’s body by accident on Sept. 22 while looking for another missing woman, 55-year-old Edna Quintana, who vanished in the area on May 3.
“Law enforcement officials that were supposedly looking for Suzanne, were never looking for Suzanne in the Moffat area or area South of Maysville, because they only focused in on Barry being the suspect,” Eytan stated. “And, they knew Barry was not South of Maysville, and certainly not 45 miles south.”
Data retrieved from Barry Morphew’s phone and car, as well as surveillance video, showed that between May 9 and 10, 2020, he was either at his home in Maysville or working in areas well north of his residence, according to his lawyer.
“What needs to be done instead of pointing fingers at Barry Morphew, is asking the officials about the number of missing people and number of human remains that have been recovered in or from Saguache County in the recent past,” Eytan continued.
Besides Quintana, who so far has not been found, Eytan mentioned Kristal Reisinger, a 29-year-old mom who vanished in July 2016 not far from Moffat; an unidentified man whose skeletal remains were recovered by the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office in late July of this year and another person whose body was found in the same area last weekend.
“What were the circumstances of their disappearances, what is cause and manner of death of the remains found in the area, what happened to them, are they looking for other remains in this area?” Eytan asked.
“The public should demand answers about these five people who suspiciously went missing or were found dead in this area.”
The lawyer went on to argue on behalf of Barry Morphew that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement and the 11th District Attorney’s Office “have a conflict of interest” and should be kept away from Suzanne Morphew’s death probe.
Instead, she called for an “objective and unbiased examination” of the facts conducted by an independent team of investigators.
“When law enforcement focuses in on one person and refuses to review evidence objectively and fairly, it is a disservice to the community and creates exactly what has come to light … years of unsolved murder,” Eytan seethed.
Barry Morphew’s legal team in April filed a complaint asking that the prosecutors be disciplined for allegedly intentionally withholding evidence in the case — including DNA from a mystery man that was found on Suzanne Morphew’s glove box and has been linked to three unsolved sexual assault cases in Chicago and Arizona.
He filed a $15 million lawsuit in May against prosecutors and investigators, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights.
Barry and Suzanne Morphew’s two adult daughters have stood by their dad, saying last year that they “never had a shred of doubt” about his innocence.